Into Darkness
by lovelytl23
Summary: In ancient Greece, Abraxas finds himself plunged into a world he didn't know existed and haunted by his tormentor, Orphée.  Is he angel or demon or something entirely unknown?  This is his story and search for truth.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Abraxas hurried through the city, slinking into shadows and being as quiet as possible as the gravel shifted underneath his tender feet. He had always been a swift runner as a boy, and now at the age of 19, he was in his prime of fitness. His light chocolate colored skin perspired, not with fatigue but with anxiety about whatever was following him. No man had ever scared Abraxas. He towered over most people at six foot, three inches. He had lean, hard muscles that made him quick in combat and beautiful to look at. He stopped to slink into a doorway and hide in the deep shadows, hoping that whatever or whoever was tailing him would pass him, unnoticed. His deep green eyes sought a light source as he swept his loose black hair out of his eyes and smoothed it back down around his shoulders.

He tried to still his ragged breath and beating heart. His body pulsed, every vein had a heartbeat. His adrenaline rushed through him and he was angry at himself for feeling this way. He had no idea why such a feeling of dread came over him, but he knew that he didn't like whatever was after him.

"Hello, Abraxas" said a silky voice from the opposite corner of the stone doorway where he stood. Abraxas swung his fist in the direction of the voice but his hand was caught in a powerful grasp. Not a grasp intended to hurt him, just intended to stop him.

"Who are you? What do you want of me?"

"I only seek your company. You see, I find you beautiful to behold and your scent, your body, your hair, all of you is enticing to me. I seek pleasure, and I think I have found it in you."

Despite the thrill of fear that seared through Abraxas' body, he couldn't help but be wooed and flattered by the velvet voice and tender compliments of his stalker.

"Tell me Abraxas, are you afraid of me?"

"Yes."

"That is wise, but I don't think you are afraid enough yet. You have no idea what I am or what I could do to you."

Abraxas could only stare now at this creature. He knew he should run or scream for help or fight, but he could not make his body move to do any of these things.

"No, my friend. You cannot fight me. I wish to have you now, and I am growing tired of the chase, though I could continue to chase you for eternity. You could never hide from me, or run from me or leave me if I want it."

"Who are you?"

"I am Orphée. It means darkness. Rather appropriate, don't you think." At this Orphée moved into the light of the moon and smiled a small, sad smile.

Abraxas looked at the man who had been following him and couldn't immediately decide whether he was looking at a night terror or an angel. Orphée was a tall man, nearly as tall as Abraxas. He was the color of a ripe blackberry with large, deep brown eyes. His blue-black hair hung in ringlets around his face and shoulders and his smooth, taut body was covered only in a _exomie_ made of red, fine linen. His skin showed no signs of sweat as Abraxas' did, but was creamy and smooth.

Orphée smiled a great, menacing smile as Abraxas studied the man from his feet to his face. Orphée's teeth shone white and brilliant, especially in contrast to his onyx colored skin. The whites of his eyes also shone clearly against his skin and made them look like the eyes of an innocent doe.

Without warning, Orphée grabbed Abraxas by the throat and thrust him against the stone wall opposite the door. Abraxas tried to scream but the grip on his throat was so strong, he was sure his neck would snap. Orphée put his face close to Abraxas' face and smelled his scent; musk, sandalwood, man.

Abraxas clawed at the strong hands holding his neck, cutting off his windpipe, but Orphée grinned once and ripped open Abraxas' toga also tearing the flesh from his chest in four jagged claw marks. Then Orphée bent his head and licked Abraxas' wounds which seared like fire from a branding iron.

Orphée slung Abraxas to the gravel road and before Abraxas could right himself, Orphée was on top of him, holding him down by the wrists and sitting on his torso. Orphée again leaned over Abraxas' heaving chest and bit hard on his left nipple; so hard that he almost severed it. He began to suckle the nipple and each time his tongue passed over it, a sickening spasm would form in Abraxas' gut and the wound burned like white fire.

"Don't kill me please!" Abraxas managed to whimper.

"Kill you? No, I would never kill you, this is only a mild poison", and he spit on Abraxas' chest. The place where the saliva hit burned like an inferno and Abraxas knew no more.

When Abraxas woke, he was lying on a _Kline_ with a linen rolled pillow under his neck. He looked around his bed and saw only an ornate chest and a few stools occupying the sunny room. His body burned with fever and his jaw chattered with chills.

"Ah, don't you love Greece?" a dreamy voice asked him.

Abraxas looked in the direction of the voice, but his neck hurt too badly to move much. His eyes burned and watered and he couldn't quite make out the form advancing towards him.

"Well, I love Greece, whether you have grown to appreciate it or not. I like the people and the heated discussions and the swarms of philosophy buzzing around." Abraxas could only stare at this figure as he recalled what had happened to him that night. "Everyone has a new idea about something, don't you think so, Abraxas?" Abraxas couldn't speak, his mouth was too dry and felt like it might rip open at any moment.

"Abraxas? Oh, well, you will have your voice back soon enough. Look at that sun! It is beautiful, life giving and warm. We should be outside, enjoying this day. Well, we must see to it that you get well first", and with that Orphée laughed and strode out of the room.

Abraxas felt a tear slide down his hot cheek and wondered when he had last cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When Abraxas awoke for the second time in whatever time span he had been unconscious, he felt a cool cloth being pressed to his brow. Immediately he sprang up and with a strength he didn't realize he had, grabbed the hand that held the cloth and threw the person across the room. A bowl of water fell to the floor and broke. Before finishing his attack, he noticed the person that he had thrown to the floor was not his attacker, but a thin woman with long red hair that now wildly covered her face. He ran to her and grabbed both of her arms in his, hoisting her off of the floor and shook her.

"Who are you? Why am I here?"

"Abraxas, calm yourself. I am Gaia. You are here because Orphée is a bastard and decided he wanted you here. Now if you will control your temper, I will finish cleaning your wounds. You are very nearly healed, it won't take long." With that, Gaia picked up the wet cloth from the floor and stared Abraxas in the eye.

Abraxas looked at his chest and saw four slashes scarred in his skin from his pectoral muscles down to the bottom of his ribcage. Teeth marks circled his left nipple, which by some miracle was still there. He looked back into Gaia's glowing green eyes and saw a fierceness in them that he had never seen in any other woman. Most women were tender and gentle, even cowardly. Gaia, however met his gaze levelly until he dropped his eyes and sat back on the _kline_.

She applied a paste of herbs on his chest and the marks stung a little, but nothing like the pain he had experienced during his attack. Abraxas said nothing to Gaia as he watched her work on him. She smelled good, like spices. He seemed to be able to detect each spice, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Together they made Gaia smell intoxicating and exotic and he wanted to bathe in her scent. He smelled chamomile in her long fiery red hair and it soothed him. He watched her long white fingers dip into the herb and oil mixture and gently press it onto his wounds. Her pale, creamy skin against his dark flesh made a spasm of lust shoot through his loins.

Gaia finished her work on his wounds and stood up, her blue _peplos_ ended just over the tops of her feet. This blue color of her clothing set off the red of her hair into a beautiful inferno. He watched her pick up the broken pieces of bowl that had fallen earlier and she turned to leave the room.

"Gaia?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Gaia?"

"Yes?"

"I'm a prisoner here, aren't I?"

"Yes. Until Orphée believes you will stay of your own accord, he will not release you. Trust me on that matter. He will own you and you will eventually let him. He is very powerful."

"The hell I will! He may be powerful or strong, but he will never own me. I am no slave. I am a free man and no one will deny me my freedom!"

Gaia smiled kindly at Abraxas and said only "we shall see". With that she walked out of the room and shut the door. A rage Abraxas had never known welled inside his heart and he shook with heat and anger. He had no strength to fight Orphée now, but he would later, and this time he would not be caught by surprise. He hoped.

Abraxas got up and walked across the room to a large mirror that leaned against the wall. He had been dressed in a light-weight, golden _chiton_ which had been draped over both of his muscular shoulders. His skin had been cleaned with something that made him smell sweetly of olive leaves and his body was smooth and soft. He took the draping off of his shoulders and let his _chiton_ fall away, revealing his naked form. He wanted to see the extent of damage done to his body by his hated attacker.

His chest seemed to have borne the brunt of the damage, the scars still glistening with Gaia's healing oil. These scars would be visible for the rest of his life, this much he knew. They were big, each about an inch wide and fleshy pink. He wondered how a man could rip someone's skin the way his had been ripped. He thought that perhaps Orphée was some kind of god. He could think of no gods that dripped poison from their very mouths though.

He walked across the stone floor of the small room and pulled at the heavy wooden door. It was locked as Abraxas assumed it would be. In frustration, he hit the door with his fist and left a splintered dent in the rough wood. Though his hand bled, he marveled at the fact that he had just cracked the door. This was no soft wood, it was something hard, probably imported. He rubbed his split knuckles and walked across the small, rectangular room to look out of the window. Below was the _aula, _or courtyard, with bay trees and he could see a small stone alter to Zeus. A slave boy ran across the courtyard into the home, carrying a basket of goods.

"That one is Kalidas"

Abraxas spun around so quickly he almost fell over when he heard Orphée speak. He had not heard him enter the room.

"What?" he asked.

"The boy, the one you were looking at is named Kalidas. He is beautiful, is he not? I believe he is only ten or eleven years old."

"You bastard", screamed Abraxas, rushing towards Orphée, "release me now, or I swear I will tear you apart right here".

Orphée laughed a hollow laugh and turned from Abraxas and the window. "If you think you can do it, be my guest. Otherwise, do not threaten me with false promises. Besides, I have things to do in the market and I was hoping you would accompany me. I have so much to show you before you are ready to be on your own".

"The market? You are going to let me go with you to the market?"

"Well, yes, unless you prefer to stay here."

Abraxas looked at Orphée skeptically. "Who are you, and what is it you want from me? You have answered none of my questions, and have brutally attacked me, though unprovoked".

"I did answer your questions" replied Orphée. "I told you my name and told you that I wanted your company."

"Your name tells me nothing about you and if you intended to make a friend, you went about it all wrong."

"Your friendship will come later, for now I wanted a companion, and I made you into that. Of course it doesn't always have to be so brutal, but I think that makes it more entertaining, don't you?"

Abraxas rushed Orphée and made to grab him around the neck but before he could get a good grip on Orphée's throat, he was hit so hard in the jaw that he heard his bones crack and felt his head hit the wall on the opposite side of the room. He slid down the cold, solid wall as his knees buckled underneath him. He caught himself just before smashing face first into the floor. His ears rang like a thousand bells and he could not focus his eyes on any one thing in the room. Abraxas knew that this man must be at least ten years older than himself, and therefore not as strong as Abraxas himself. He wondered at the physical power of the older man as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He leaned his head back on the wall and tried to make the room stop spinning around him.

Orphée looked curiously at Abraxas and didn't say anything until he was sure Abraxas had his wits about him again. "You are strong. Good, that will be an asset to you. However, I asked you not to provoke me and you did anyway. That was a mistake you should never make again. I realize we all must test our strength against other men, though. Now that you have tested yours against mine, do not forget it. Come now, I must get out of this house, and I want to show you things that you have never seen before!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three-quarters

Orphée helped Abraxas stand up and smoothed his dark hair for him. He gently dressed him again in the golden chiton, draping it gracefully over both of Abraxas' muscular shoulders. Abraxas was sweaty now with the heat of anger and the fight which he had clearly lost. He stood still while Orphée took a piece of his own clothing and wiped the sweat from Abraxas' face and brow. Abraxas could feel his jaw bones healing themselves, but knew that was impossible, so he figured it must be a trick his mind was playing on him due to the stress of the situation.

"No, your bones are healing already. You should be fine in a few minutes", Orphée smiled at him.

"You can read my thoughts?"

"Yes, I can sense them, see your mind forming questions and see your observations. It's a handy little tool I have. I can tell when someone is lying to me, and that makes conversation much easier; easier for me anyway" he laughed. "I love the look on some people's faces when you tell them they are lying and then tell them the truth. Especially if the truth is something secret, personal, something they have hidden away. I really do love people. They are so... interesting". With this Orphée had finished cleaning Abraxas and reached up to tenderly remove stray hairs from Abraxas' face. He smoothed the dark hair and combed through it with his long, dark fingers. "I have missed having a man around me. A man who is beautiful and innocent. A man like yourself".

Abraxas knocked Orphée's hand away and stared at him. "OK, so when do we leave?"

"Now if you would like. You will be healed by the time we make the market. Is your jaw feeling better yet?"

"Yes, no thanks to you."

"Actually, it is all thanks to me. Had I not made you what you are, that blow would have been fatal, but as I said earlier, you may recall, I have no desire to kill you."

"Only to hold me captive and abuse me at your whim?"

"You will become too strong for abuse, and you will eventually love me and holding you captive, as you say, will be unnecessary."

"You said 'had I not made you what you are'. What am I now? Am I still human or am I an abomination like yourself, dripping poison from my mouth and thirsty for blood?"

"I don't know what you are yet. You can still be human to a certain extent if you wish, but I find that it gets in the way of fun. Come now. No more questions. We have much to see and you have much to learn. I will answer your questions as they present themselves, but you don't know what to ask yet, so for now, please just follow me and listen."

Both men left the room and took a left into the _andronitis_, the living room of the house. It was wide open and spacious. There were five chairs in a semi circle, presumably for debating, in one corner of the white room. An imported Oriental rug hung on the East wall and twelve doorways led off of the area, including what had been Abraxas' room. There were no women in this room, but several male slaves were busy with various tasks. The floor was made of plaster and the walls were stained a light cream color. One slave ground cloves and the smell took over the room. They walked through the men without acknowledging them and stepped over the threshold and into the street.

The sun was particularly bright that day and Abraxas' eyes took a moment to adjust. For a moment he had the impulse to run, but knew that Orphée would catch him quickly and probably beat him. Orphée smiled at the men he saw and waved hellos and talked pleasantly with people they met. Abraxas wondered if any of these people knew how dangerous Orphée really was or what he was. He doubted it.

As he became more comfortable with his companion, he began to really look at his surroundings. Had colors always been this bright? Had the smells of people and meats and herbs and cooking always been this strong? He could keenly smell the dates and other fruits being sold; he could smell the earthy smell of nuts and the salty smell of olives. The women he passed seemed more beautiful than ever. Their dark hair glistened in the sunshine and their breasts and thighs seemed sultry to him in a way he had never noticed. Even the men were beautiful. Their bare chests defined by muscle and hair. Their long, sinewy arms with thick veins and their backs powerful and erotic. Strong backs. Strong arms. Full lips and thick thighs. Abraxas marveled at the beauty surrounding him and a lump caught in his throat as he realized this beauty had always been available to him, he had just never realized it.

" No my friend, you have never seen it this way until now, because it has not existed this way until now." Orphée pointed at a slave girl buying fish at a nearby stall. "Do you see that woman? She is a common slave. She is nothing and her clothing is old and threadbare. She works for the silk merchant's wife and helps dye the wool that the wife spins. Her fingers are red and raw and stained with dyes. The dye will stain her fingernails and skin and pores until the day she dies. What do you see?"

Abraxas looked at the woman and he couldn't figure out Orphée's harsh criticism of her. Her chestnut hair lay in a plait down her back; each weave shone in the afternoon sun. The stray, short hairs that weren't long enough to fit in the braid whipped around her delicate face, framing it softly and the tiny thin hairs that frizzed on the top of her head looked like the halo of a goddess. Her skin was olive toned and smooth like a child's. Her crimson _chiton_ was pinned at the shoulders with silver that sparkled and glittered like mirrors reflecting the afternoon. Her hands were indeed rough but this only served to make her look strong and added character to her body. The tips of her fingers looked brilliant in shades of red, purple, blue, yellow and green as though painted for a celebration. Abraxas wanted to kiss each finger and taste the colors of her hands. Even the smell of the fish she carried was not repugnant to Abraxas, but brought to mind the warm smells of cooking food and his mouth watered at the thought of this woman's hands making a meal fit for the gods. In fact, Abraxas was in love, or at the least, in lust with this woman. He wanted to press his fingers into her soft arms and feel her naked soft belly and hold her heavy breasts in his hands and feel the wanton thickness of her thighs.

"You may have her if you want her, you are unstoppable now. She would only be missed in her capacity as a slave, and slaves are easily replaced" Orphée said to Abraxas.

Without much thought, Abraxas began to follow the woman as she left the fish stall and followed her to an alley which presumably led to her or her masters home. As she neared the door of a home at the end of the alleyway, a man stepped out and smiled ruefully at her. "Where have you been you worthless bitch?" he sneered at her.

"To the market, I needed to buy-" She was interrupted by the man.

"What? Needed to buy more food with my money so you could steal it?"

"No sir, I swear it. I have never stolen so much as a pinch of bread from you."

"Liar!" raged the fat, red man and with that he slapped the woman across her face and pushed her to the ground. "Do you think I do not keep track of the food and supplies in my own household? There should be no need to buy fish or anything else today, you thieving whore!" He kicked the woman in the ribs as she cowered in the doorway. She shrieked in pain and grabbed her side.

Abraxas had never known such rage as the rage he felt watching this woman be abused. He had seen women beaten before, but now his anger boiled inside of him and he ran to the fat man and grabbed him by the throat. "Do you want to hit someone, you worthless bastard?" he yelled into the man's face. He realized he couldn't stop and he threw the man to the ground and with his bare hands ripped the mans throat apart. His fire raged on as he plunged his hand into the man's chest and held tight to whatever organ he managed to get hold of and ripped it out of the dying man. Abraxas stood and kicked the man in the head as hard as he could and heard the bones of the man's skull crush as his foot smashed through and stuck in the man's brain. Abraxas was soaked in blood and fluid and chunks of human flesh and organs. He wanted to rip the man's arms off and as he reached down he realized what he had just done and stopped short, staring in horror at the mutilated corpse beneath him.

The woman was had found her voice and began screaming hysterically, crying and vomiting. Abraxas wanted to comfort her; tell her she would never again be beaten by this tyrant. He couldn't make himself heard over her frightened yelps and he quickly put his hand over her mouth to make her quiet so that he could explain. He was scared and his adrenaline coursed through his veins and as he wrapped his hand around the woman's mouth, he felt her jaw and cheek bones crush under his strength and she dropped silently to the ground.

"She is still alive. You really should put her out of her misery" said Orphée.

Abraxas could only stare at the carnage he had caused and trembled at the sight of his bloody hands and clothes and arms. Orphée stepped beside Abraxas, knelt down and swiftly broke the woman's neck. "We should leave now before people show up here wondering what all the screaming was about. With that, Orphée took Abraxas by the hand and ran to their home. Only this was running faster than Abraxas thought possible. He had never known anyone who could run the way he and Orphée were running. The world was rushing by in a blur of colors and Abraxas was too stunned to realize what was happening or where he was going.

They crossed the threshold to their home and Abraxas stood in the _andronitis_ numb and still, breathing quick, short, staccato breaths. In a flash, he turned on Orphée and grabbed him by his arms and pulled Orphée close to his own face. "What have you done to me? What am I? What? What is happening to me?" he sobbed and screamed.

"You are like me now, and very good at what you do, I might add."

''What then, what are we? You tell me!" Abraxas screamed.

"We are gods. We are anti-gods. We are all powerful. We see more clearly than mortals, we feel passionately and we can be ruled by no man on earth" answered Orphée. "I have made you like myself for a companion. Gaia is lovely, though she cannot seem to overcome her hatred of me and just love me. I gave her immortality and she has never been grateful. I don't know if we die, but if we do, it will take more years than you can count. Perhaps we are sons of Hades. Perhaps we are more powerful than Zeus. Whatever we are, we are unstoppable and all men should fear us. We are predators of mortal minds, we manipulate human beings and we feed off of their fear and flesh."

"You lie" whispered Abraxas, "you lie. No man is more powerful than the gods. We are not gods. We are an abomination, unnatural, and you have caused this".

"Oh Abraxas, imagine this. All of that passion you had when you killed that man back there? Imagine now that you are making love. The hunger, the lust, the control. Imagine being satisfied on a deeper level than you ever thought possible. Imagine the men and women throwing themselves at your feet just to have you fondle them, caress them and even sodomize them. You will have no end of lovers, and you will be worshiped as a god on earth. You, my friend are unstoppable and will go on living and being young when those around us are rotting in their own flesh and decaying in death. I have given you the ultimate gift."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"A gift. You call what you have done to me a gift? I just killed two people", Abraxas yelled. "This is no gift. This is- is- is terrible", he broke down into sobs.

"You are an idiot. We are the most powerful beings on earth." Orphée rolled his eyes. "Besides, you only killed one, I actually killed the woman, which shows I can be merciful." He laughed cruelly and patted Abraxas on the back.

Abraxas sniffed hard and wiped his hands down his face. He watched Orphée in stunned silence. He couldn't imagine a human being as cold and cruel as this man. Then again, he had made up his mind that Orphée was not human.

"Stop questioning yourself and stop questioning me. I have no idea what we are any more than you do, but I do know we are powerful, beautiful, and seductive. I know that people love us, and I do love humans! The taste of humans, the smell, and ahh, the way their life just flows right out of them so easily. Do you know how hard someone would have to work to kill us? No, of course not, because I don't know, but I do know that no one has succeeded in killing me yet", he grinned slyly to Abraxas.

"Could I kill you?" Abraxas asked.

"I don't think so. Maybe you could, but why would you want to?"

"Because I hate you."

"Yeah, but you won't forever, and for now you are too weak to kill a kitten. Well, not a kitten, really, I mean you did just kill two people," he laughed.

"One."

"What?"

"One. I only killed one person."

"Ah, yes. Only one. See you are practically blameless." He gave Abraxas an indulgent grin and walked out of the room. Abraxas turned and walked towards the door, but the heavy wood was shut and bolted and he knew he would never get out. He walked to the end of the hall and called to Gaia in the women's quarters.

Gaia walked out from behind a curtain and looked at him carefully. "What do you want?" "I am thirsty, please can I have water?"

Gaia looked at him with a sneer and left. She soon returned with a ladle of water and thrust it up to his face, splashing some up his nose. Abraxas was overcome with the smell of minerals and metal. The smell made him gag, but he took the ladle and put the water to his dry lips and sipped. His stomach immediately rebelled and he vomited the water back up onto the floor. Gaia tossed a nearby towel to him and stormed angrily from the room. He dabbed at the mess he had made and coughed. His throat felt as though he had swallowed sea water. It itched and burned. He stood up and turned around, startled to see Gaia storming through the hall, dragging a small, blond headed boy alongside her. The boy was shrieking for his mother, though Gaia didn't seem to hear him. She stood him roughly beside Abraxas and said "This will ease your thirst. This is now the only way. Look at him and he will shut up." Abraxas stared at her instead. "Look at him for the gods sake", she screamed at him. Abraxas looked into the gray-blue eyes of the boy as a tear formed and raced down his pudgy little cheek. The boy almost immediately quit crying and looked back at Abraxas like a dumb animal. "What is your name boy?" asked Abraxas.

"Eros."

"Hello, Eros." Abraxas didn't know what else to say, but he was afraid to quit looking at the boy lest he start screaming again.

Gaia sighed and cursed under her breath. She walked to Eros and quickly cut a gash into the boy's neck artery. The boy never flinched, he just stared into Abraxas's eyes while blood poured down his neck and onto his chest.

"Drink him", Gaia ordered.

"What have you done?" yelled Abraxas. "You have killed him, he's going to die! You bitch!" Abraxas turned away from the boy and grabbed for Gaia. She deftly escaped his grasp, grabbed the back of his head and shoved his face into the boys neck. The blood spurting from Eros' neck invaded Abraxas nostrils and mouth and pores. It smelled so good, like honey and elderberries. It tasted like nectar and his mind thought of the blood like a steady stream of juicy pomegranate seeds. A rush of pleasure shivered down his body and he ran his fingers through the silk of the boy's flaxen hair. Abraxas loved this boy. This perfect human being. He loved his baby flesh, plump and moist. He loved Eros damp forehead and quivering mouth. He especially loved Eros' eyes; those trusting, wide eyes that stared and stared at him. A tiny fist reached up and weakly grabbed Abraxas's hair and the little fingers brushed his ear. Abraxas moaned with the pleasure of the boy and lay down, spooning the boy into his body. Satisfied, he slept.

Abraxas was startled awake by a harsh laugh. He held the boy close to him and looked up at Orphée. "Well, well, man. I would have recommended a boy as your first meal myself, but I didn't think you would have taken me up on the offer. After all, you being so moral and all, I'm surprised you were willing to take a life so young."

"What are you talking about?" Abraxas scoffed. "The boy is asleep and so was I. I had a peculiar dream about him though." Abraxas stroked the young head in his arms.

Orphée unceremoniously grabbed Eros from Abraxas's arms and held him up with one hand. Ero's blue face dropped to his chest. Blood stained the boy's clothes and one tiny fist had a few shreds of Abraxas's hair still clenched fast in it.

Abraxas stood in shock as he realized his dream was a reality. He had killed this boy, though he didn't know when or how. He remembered this boy's sweet blood and how he had tasted. Oh! Blood. Taste. Had he drunk this boy's blood? He felt faint as the answers came rushing back at him.

Orphée laughed out loud. "You didn't know what you were doing? Please; you knew what you were doing and you loved it, didn't you. I know how sweet the boy was. I've tasted him myself. He was really delightful, don't you think?"

Abraxas tore from the room and ran down the hallway, past the door of the women's quarters screaming for Gaia. "What are you doing back here, you ass?" she yelled at him. "Get out, no men are allowed back here. You son of a whore, get out now" she screamed. "No", he screamed back at her, "not until you tell me what happened yesterday. Why is that boy dead. What did you do? What? You bled him like a pig!" he bellowed, and grabbed her by the neck, hard enough to kill anyone else. Gaia kicked her small white foot so hard against his abdomen that he dropped her, but quickly regained his balance and grasped her hair as she tried to run. Catching a good handful of hair, he jerked her so hard that she fell to the floor on her back. She screamed at him, rolled over and sprang to her feet like a cat. She grabbed both of his shoulders and jabbed her knee into his diaphragm causing him to double over in pain. Quickly she raised her fists and slammed them both into the sides of his drooped head. He bellowed in pain and blood ran from his ears. She kicked his feet out from under him and he fell to the floor, wounded and sobbing. "If you ever attack me again, I will kill you" she said through gritted teeth and she spat a bloody glob at him and crossed the room to sit down. He lay on the ground crying, though he didn't know whether it was because he was hurt in body or in mind. Gaia watched Abraxas for a moment and walked back to him. She knelt down beside him and said quietly, "Get up. I will meet you in your room in a moment". Abraxas righted himself and walked back to his room. He passed some men pounding herbs who snickered at him as he went by. He didn't know where Orphée was, but hoped he didn't have to see him as well.

Abraxas's room was quiet and empty. He looked at the large mirror and grimaced at the bloody spectacle before him. He splashed his face from the wash basin and tried to scrub off some of the blood from his ears and face. His door opened and Gaia entered, but he could not look at her yet. He splashed a little more water in his face and ran his hands down his cheeks. He looked at her reflection in the mirror.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"What happened to me, Gaia? What happened to that boy?"

"I don't know what happened to you or me or Orphée. The boy died. You drained him of blood."

"I did no such thing! You did, you cut his throat and he bled."

"And if I had not cut him open, you would have had no means of drinking from him. You would never have cut him, and you were thirsty. Don't you understand? You no longer drink and eat like a human; you drink and eat blood. That is your meat. That is your wine."

"You are lying to me. Please, you have to be lying. I cannot do this. I cannot kill in order to live."

"You ate beef once didn't you? You have had the meat of foul and pigs? You have been killing in order to live your whole life long."

"Not human beings", he yelled with a mad laugh to his voice. "I never killed a man or a boy for food. You are crazy if you cannot see the difference. People are not cows and pigs. People are... are... " He didn't know how to finish his sentence. He felt that if he had to explain to Gaia the difference in pigs and humans, he would never get through to her anyway.

"People and pigs and cows are all living creatures. They all give birth to young. They all feel pain, they all bleed. They all know fear, they all catch disease, they all die in the end. All living creatures think within their capacity. Just because you have decided that humans are more intelligent than other beasts, does not mean they have any more of a right to live than other creatures. It simply means they can usually overpower other creatures. They cannot overpower us though, so they are fair game if you decided the order of the food chain by strength and wisdom. Who could be wiser than someone who has lived three lifetimes?"

Abraxas looked at Gaia with tears in his eyes. "Gaia, I killed a boy last night. A little boy. He might have grown up into a soldier or father or... someone. He could have been someone, Gaia. He won't be anyone now. He's just dead. He's dead and I murdered him."

"You didn't 'murder' him. You took him for food."

"Gaia, it doesn't matter why I killed him. He's dead and I caused it. I will never get over this."

"Shut up, idiot. You will get over it, and you will do it again. You will have men and women and children and they will all come to you willingly. Do you remember me telling you to look at that boy? When you look at them, they fall in love with you. They need you, and they will do anything you want them to do. Humans are easily manipulated, just make them love you and they will be clay for you to mold."

Abraxas could not understand Gaia's seeming coldness on the subject of murder. He remembered when she had come to him and healed his wounds. She had seemed kind then. She seemed repulsed by Orphée and his lust for torture. Now, she seemed as evil as Orphée and her femininity made this cruelty even more repulsive to him. He had never met a woman who didn't cry at the sight of a dead child, and this woman had brought the lamb to the slaughter.

"Who was he, the boy?" asked Abraxas.

"A slave. Eros. He and another group of boys live together and work for Orphée. They usually run errands and occasionally Orphée feeds on them. Generally he doesn't kill them, but I don't think he minded that you did. You will be clumsy for a while, and will probably kill most of your prey."

"Prey? Kill my prey?" he gasped. "No, I cannot do this. Please, kill me, Gaia. I hate this and I hate whatever it is that I have become." Tears welled up in his eyes again and he sniffed and blinked back his tears.

Gaia shook her head, "I won't kill you. Orphée wants you and if I kill you, he might kill me or if I make a companion, he might kill that companion. He is a vengeful man, and I would not tempt his nature. If you want to die, kill yourself, but do not ask for help."

"How do I kill myself? Orphée said we cannot die. I don't know what to do."

"I don't know. Swallow poison, stab yourself, how should I know?"

"You never tried?"

"No."

"Even after he made you into this, whatever we are?"

"I never wanted to die. And stop saying Orphée made me. He did not make me."

"I'm sorry. He said you never forgave him for uh... well, he said, um..."

"Oh yes, he did this to me, but he didn't _make_ me. He left me to die and I refused to. He didn't know that giving me his poison and blood would make me like him. He didn't know I would fight to live. He didn't know that I would conquer his attack and that I would live. I have made it a point to live and plague him. I hate him more than any human being ever hated any other human being. I loathe him and would kill him, but he makes me love him. I don't pretend to understand my emotions. Just when I feel like I hate him the most, that I would leave him; I find myself in love with him. I find myself drawn to him like an insect to honey. My infatuation never lasts long, but it keeps me tied to him. Maybe since you are here, he will let me go. He will stop needing me and he will let me leave." A tear slid down her creamy face and Abraxas watched it drip off of her chin.

"Gaia, please tell me your story. Maybe if I hear it from someone else it will all make sense somehow. Please tell me what happened to you."

"Abraxas, I don't really give a damn what you think or if you ever make sense of anything. I will not tell you 'my story' just so you can hear something about how we were made."

"Please then, tell me because I want to hear it. Gaia, I feel so alone. Please talk to me." He looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and sorrow. He tenderly wiped the wet streak on her face away with his strong hand.

Gaia looked at Abraxas and pushed his hand away gently. She had never told anyone what happened to her the night Orphée nearly killed her. After that night, she never had another friend. She had no one to tell, so she never thought about what happened. She forced herself on Orphée, pushed her way into his home, but had never made a friend of him or any one else. She wanted to trust Abraxas enough to tell him her story, but she didn't know where to begin. She remembered how happy she had been before Orphée broke into her life and destroyed her. That was a lifetime ago. It was actually several lifetimes ago.

"Gaia," Abraxas said, breaking her train of thought, "I will not tell anyone if you wish me not to, but please tell me. I want to hear it. I need to hear it, and maybe, you want to tell someone?" She thought about that. Did she want to tell him or anyone? She had never thought much about telling anyone, and when she did, it seemed like it would be too painful. She had kept everything about her life sacred. She didn't want anyone to own that part of her life too. That was her life, and it would remain solely hers.

She stood up, "I have to go now. Never come into my quarters again."

"Gaia, please."

She looked at him and stuck her chin in the air. She would not give him the joy of knowing anything about her. She quickly walked out of his room and bolted the door behind her, locking him in so that he could not follow her and beg more of her. She shook her hands at her side and as she passed one of the servant girls she snapped the girl's neck and hauled the girl into her room. She was hungry.


End file.
